Taking It Day by Day

08Jul

For me, diabetes is a huge pain in the ass – literally and figuratively.

In the literal sense, I had to change my infusion set location from my stomach to my, um, side-butt. After weeks of roller coaster numbers on my Dexcom, I finally called the pump company to see if they were having any problems with pump supplies (this has happened before). After an hour on the phone going through all the trouble shooting, the rep asked if I had scar tissue. HA! Of course I do, I’ve been diabetic for over 15 years and have been using the same general body part for injections since diagnosis. So I switched on over to the side-butt and have been seeing some better numbers since.

In the figurative sense, diabetes for me is a constant struggle. Just when I think my bolus and basal rates are right in line, life (or Dee) throws me a curve ball and I get thrown off-balance. During the night, my numbers usually run perfectly between 100 and 120 or so but during the day, my Dexcom screen looks like sideways lightning bolts jumping across the horizon. I’ve been counting carbs and bolusing long before meals but nothing can drag those highs out of the 200’s. Maybe the number trends are new or maybe my Dexcom is just allowing me to see what I wasn’t seeing before. Either way, I’m sick of it! Some days I just want to bury my head in the sand and go back to the days when I was young and didn’t understand the consequences of poor diabetes management. Then I remind myself that my health and my future go hand in hand. Ignoring my health is not an option.

Even though I’ve spent more of my life with Dee than without, I still have a hard time imagining far into my future and all the years in between. I know I’ll have days, weeks or even months of slacking off on my intense attention to Dee – managing such a crap-tastic disease on a daily basis is bound to burn us all out at some point! Someone just be sure to remind me when that day comes that I want a long, healthy(ish) life and my body simply requires a bit more maintenance than most!